The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT, pronounced "min-dot") oversees transportation by land, water, and air in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state's trunk highway system (including state highways, U.S. highways, and interstate highways), funding municipal airports and maintaining radio navigation aids, and other activities. Minnesota's lieutenant governor, Carol Molnau, is currently head of the department (Commissioner of Transportation). Land is sometimes used synonymously with country. ... Water (from the Old English word wæter) is a colourless, tasteless, and odourless substance that is essential to all known forms of life and is known also as the most universal solvent. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ... State nickname: North Star State Other U.S. States Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty Official languages None Area 225,365 km² (12th)  - Land 206,375 km²  - Water 18,990 km² (8. ... A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... This is a list of Minnesota state highways. ... Current U.S. Highway shield The United States Highway System is an integrated system of roads in the United States numbered within a nationwide grid. ... A typical rural stretch of Interstate Highway, with two lanes in each direction separated by a large grassy median, and with cross-traffic limited to overpasses and underpasses. ... Categories: 1949 births | Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota | People stubs ...

History

The agency's history can be traced to the state's Railroad and Warehouse Commission which emerged slowly from 1871 to 1905, and the State Highway Commission created in 1905. However, the Highway Commission was abolished in 1917 and replaced by a Department of Highways. For air transport, the Minnesota Aeronautics Commission was created in 1933. Much of the railroad oversight was transferred to the Minnesota Department of Public Service in 1967. Two years later in 1969, the Department of Public Safety was established and took over the Highway Patrol and Driver's License Bureau. Mn/DOT finally came into being in 1976 and took over the functions of the aeronautics and highway departments, plus transportation-related duties of the State Planning Agency and Department of Public Service. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Driving licences within the European Union are subdivided in different categories. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Services and projects

Mn/DOT operates networks of ramp meters and traffic cameras in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in order to manage traffic flow. In 2000, the ramp meters were turned off for a study period mandated by the Minnesota Legislature. The bill was backed by Republican State Senator Dick Day of Owatonna, Minnesota, who has often been critical of Mn/DOT policies and projects. The study showed that ramp meters reduce the number of crashes on highways, and marginally reduce travel time in many cases. However, the study also showed some places where the meters were more of a hindrance, and metering strategies have been altered since that time. There are about 430 ramp meters and more than 280 traffic cameras. A ramp meter is a device, usually a basic traffic light, that regulates traffic entering freeways according to current traffic conditions. ... Minnesota Closed-Circuit TV Traffic Cameras There are 285 cameras located along the Twin Cities freeway system. ... The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. ... A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large city and its adjacent zone of influence, or of several neighboring cities or towns and adjoining areas, with one or more large cities serving as its hub or hubs. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Minnesota State Legislature is the legislative branch of government in the U.S. state of Minnesota. ... The Republican Party of Minnesota, as its name implies, is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. ... The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota State Legislature. ...

The department has also put up informational electronic signage along highways to provide alert messages. Message boards have been in Rochester, Duluth and the Twin Cities for some time. Part of the reason for the Rochester signs is occasional flooding of U.S. Highway 52. The department expanded use of the signs after Amber Alert legislation allocated funding for larger networks. In the Twin Cities, Mn/DOT began using them to display freeway travel times in 2003 or 2004 to help drivers plan alternate routes to avoid heavy traffic if necessary (although a generic message like "buckle up for safety" is often encountered). A variable (also changeable, electronic, or dynamic) message sign, often abbreviated VMS or CMS, is an electronic traffic sign often used on roadways to give travelers information about special events. ... Rochester is a city located in Olmsted County, Minnesota. ... Duluth is a town in and the county seat of St. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... United States Highway 52 is an unusual United States highway. ... In the USA and Canada, an AMBER alert is a notification to the general public by commercial radio, broadcast television, e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, and now cellular text messages, regarding a confirmed abduction of a child. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) station KTCI channel 17 has been used for many years to display weather-related information that is funded by Mn/DOT. The department also had a long-standing partnership with KBEM radio (88.5 FM) in Minneapolis to relay area traffic information, although that relationship is coming to an end. After public outcry, the term was extended, but it is unclear how long the two organizations will continue the relationship. Mn/DOT paid KBEM US$400,000 per year to provide the information, about half of the station's annual budget. Video from traffic cameras is also shown on cable television systems in the metro area (at one time, this had also been shown on KVBM channel 45, today known as KSTC). Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) is the organization that operates the KTCA and KTCI television stations in Minneapolis-St. ... Composite satellite image showing the progress of a hurricane weather system approaching the east coast of America Weather comprises all the various phenomena that occur in the atmosphere of a planet. ... KBEM (88. ... Downtown Minneapolis as viewed from the Stone Arch Bridge Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the county seat of Hennepin County. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Cable television or Community Antenna Television (CATV) (and often shortened to cable) is a system of providing television, FM radio programming and other services to consumers via radio waves transmitted directly to people’s televisions through fixed coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional... KSTC channel 45 (44 digital) is a UHF television station serving the Twin Cities region Minnesota and western Wisconsin. ...

Snow plows used on trunk highways are also operated by Mn/DOT. A small sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Canada A snowplow (or snow plow) is a vehicle or device used for removing snow from roadways, driveways, runways, and other surfaces. ...

See also

• Mn/ROAD
• MnPASS

Mn/ROAD, also known as the Minnesota Road Research Facility among other names, is an outdoor research laboratory operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) that specializes in testing different types of pavement. ... MnPASS is an electronic toll collection system used in Minnesota. ...

External links

• Minnesota Department of Transportation (http://www.dot.state.mn.us/)
• 511mn.org (http://www.511mn.org/) (state 5-1-1 webpage)
• Twin Cities traffic map (http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/map/refreshmap.html)
• Twin Cities traffic cameras (http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/metrocams/mapindex.html)